Fearless (The Blue Fire Saga) (33 page)

“But you helped Stefan. Surely that should count for something. Stefan is honorable, in his own way.”

Rave nodded. “It would count,
yes,
if Stefan was there, and if he could control his fellows. But until he becomes the leader of their coven, we can
no
t take that chance.”

Rave was right again, Leesa knew. She needed to stop making this
more
difficult on both of them.

“You’re right. It
i
s too dangerous.
For everyone.
”

She leaned forward
and kissed Rave on the forehead, then stood up and pulled her cell from her pocket. She moved a few steps away from the two volkaanes before turning it on. Weakened fire or not, she wasn’t going to take the chance their energy might zap her phone.

“I’ll get my brother to come pick me up,” she told them
. “Don’t worry about me. Do whatever you need to do to get ready to leave.” She spoke to Bradley briefly and then turned off her phone.
“No problem,” she said. “He’
s on his way. He’
ll pick me up out by the highway.”

Rave got up and crossed over to her. He dra
ped his arms over her shoulders, linking his hands behind her neck.

“I wish you could come,” he said.
“Now more than ever.”

“Me too, but I get why I can’t.” She smiled. “I have a few minutes to kill. There is one thing you
could do for me before I go.”

Rave raised his eyebrows. “Oh, what’
s that?”

Leesa moved her mouth closer to his. “This,” she whispered as she pressed her lips against his.

Within seconds, she was flying again.

26
.
A SECRET REVEALED

W
aiting with Rave on the side of the lightly traveled highway, Leesa spied her mom’s car approaching in the distance. A moment later, she could see Bradley behind the wheel. She smiled and waved to him.

Bradley swung the car in a tight u-turn and pulled over on the shoulder in front of Leesa and Rave. He switched off the engine and climbed out. He was wearing a jeans and a gray sweatshirt, which he zipped halfway up against the chill.

As soon as he
came around the front of the car
,
Leesa bounded forward and enveloped him in a tight hug. She hadn’t seen her brother in almost a week and as usual, was happy to see him.
Until Rave, Bradley had always been the most important person in her life.
Ever since his return from the vampire caverns,
her
time with him had become especially precious.

Finally, she let go of him and stepped back.

“Thanks for coming to get me,” she said.

“No problem.” Bradley nodded hello to Rave and then turned back to Leesa. “Do I wa
nt to know how you managed to get stuck
out here in the middle of nowhere with no transportation?”

Leesa grinned. She took Rave’s hand.

“Funny you should ask. We’ve just decided to let you in on a little secret.
” Leesa put her other hand on Bradley’s forearm.
“
You can’t say anything to m
om, though. I don’t think she’s ready for it yet.
Promise?
”

Bradley’s
face tightened into a
frown. Leesa could almost see
the wheels in his mind turn
ing, trying to figure out what secret she could have been hiding that she was
still
not ready to share with
t
he
i
r mom.
Of course, there was no way he could ever dream of what she was about to tell him.
He was probably thinking she and Rave had gotten engaged or something.
Not that getting engaged wouldn’t be huge news, of course.

“Sure, I promise,” he said. “I have to say, you’ve got me very curious.”

“Wel
l, brace yourself then, big bro, because this is a
doozy
.
It’s about Rave. He’s not quite what you think he is.”

Leesa watched Bradley’s eyes flick toward Rave’s face. Her brother had always been a bit suspicious about Rave, once even asking her if Rave was a vampire. She had easily laughed that question off as preposterous. But Bradley had been closer to the truth than he knew.
She and Rave had decided it was time to stop hiding Rave’s secret from him. It would make a lot of things easier. More importantly
, she didn’t like not being comple
tely honest with him
.
She still had to tell him about her own magic, but had
decided that could wait a bit.
She was worried that when he learned about Dominic, her magic and the black waziri he would go into big brother mode and get all protective. And that would put him in danger. So she would keep that secret to herself for a
while.

“
Rave isn’t exactly human,” she
continued. “He’s a volkaane.”

“A
volk
what?”
Bradley asked, clearly even more confused now.

“A volkaane,” Leesa repeated. “They’re much stronger and faster than we are. Plus, they’ve got a magical
fire inside them, although Rave’s
fire is temporarily on the fritz.”

Bradley pursed his lips in thought as he tried to understand exactly what Leesa was telling him.

“A magical f
ire?” he said after a moment. “What do they do with this magical fire
? Light campfires? Cook marshmallows?”

Out of the corner of her eye,
Leesa saw Rave smi
le
. She grinned.

“Well, they could
do both those things
.
They can also use it to heat water and to keep their girlfrie
nds warm in the coldest weather—which is pretty fun, by the way.
” She paused for a moment before continuing. “
But its main use is to kill vampires.”

Bradley’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding me, right?”

Leesa shook her head.
“Nope.
Volkaanes are vampire hunters. Rave is one of the best.”

Bradley leaned back against the front fender of the car.

“Wow,” he said. “I can’t wait to hear the rest of this.”

“And you will,” Leesa promised.
“On the ride home.
But for right now, I’ll answer your original question—how did I get out here?”

She jum
ped up into Rave’s arms. He caught her easily.

“
Rave carried me here,’ she said. “Just like this.”

“He carried you all the way from Middletown?” Bradley asked incredulously.

“Yep.
I told you, he’s really strong and fast. Not as strong as a vampire, but even faster than one. It took less than an hour to get here.”

Leesa looked in both directions, making sure they were alone on the highway.

“Show him,” she said to Rave.

With Leesa still cradled in his arms, Rave raced thirty or forty yards down the road and back. The whole thing took about five seconds.

Leesa hopped down to the ground. “See?”

Bradley shook his head in disbelief. “Yeah, I saw. I’m still not sure I believe it, though.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Leesa said. “Especially when I fill you in on
some
more details, like why volkaanes don’t drive and how mom’s camera got fried
that day outside the restaurant
. I wish Rav
e could show you his fire—it’s this cool blue color and comes out his fingertips—but like I said, it’s on t
he fritz.
Temporarily, we hope.”

She moved aside, so she was no longer between Rave and Bradley.

“Shake his hand,” she told Bradley. “You’ll get a little feel of what I’m talking about.”

Leesa watched as the two shook. Rave and Bradley had shaken hands before, but Rave had always taken care to keep his skin temperature normal. This time, he left his heat unchecked. Even though his fire was greatly diminished, his
hand was still warmer than a normal human
.

“Wow,” Bradley said, staring down at their clasped hands. “It is warm.”

“It’s usually even hotter,” Leesa said. “The first time we held hands, he kept his gloves on so I wouldn’t feel the heat. He’s learned some control
since then
, so he can shake hands now when necessary without giving himself away.
The biggest downside of his fire is that k
issing him could kill me, so we’ve only been able to do it for five seconds at a time, with his volkaane friend watching.
”
Her face lit up into a big grin
. “Until today, that is.”

Bradley extended his hand in a stop position. “That’s enough,” he said. “You’re my baby sister. I don’t need to hear
any details
abo
ut your love
life.”

Leesa laughed. “Sorry. I won’t say anything more. If I need an audience, I can always tell Cali. She eats this stuff up.”

“I bet she does,” Bradley said. He turned to Rave. “As long as you make my sister happy, I’m good with all of this. And I’ve never seen her happier, believe me.”

Rave smiled. “I’ve never felt this good, either.” He looked toward Leesa. “I have to get going. Balin and the others will be waiting.”

“I know.” Leesa rose up onto her toes and kissed him on the lips. “Good-bye, my love. Come back as soon as you can.”

“I will,” Rave promised.
“Count on it.”

He turned and raced away up the
narrow roadway. In seconds, he had disappeared around a bend.

“Wow, he
is
fast,” Bradley said.

“Yep.”
Leesa smiled. “He’s pretty amazing, in so many ways.” She turned toward the car. “Let’s get going. I still have lots to tell you.”